Spellbound
by silver-nightstorm
Summary: She was completely, utterly, totally spellbound by him – the tall, graceful, fashion-challenged wizard that her parents would never approve of.


I'm going to be (once again) doing the 'Five Word' Challenge! Yippie~! This challenge is addicting. Seriously, don't start it. When you do, you won't stop! I was given the pairing for this story as well :) Enjoy~!

The words for this story = 'spellbound', 'broken', 'spelunking', 'bundle', & 'wish'

**Spellbound**

**By silver-nightstorm**

**Summary:** She was completely, utterly, totally spellbound by him – the tall, graceful, fashion-challenged wizard that her parents would _never_ approve of.

XX

She hadn't recognized him when she, quite literally, ran into him in the middle of Barcelona. It had, after all, been almost ten years since she left Hogwarts. She had been desperately trying to figure out how to get into the Wizarding portion of Spain (you'd think they'd have clear instructions _somewhere_) when she ran straight into a tall man and fell unceremoniously onto her bum.

Padma Patil groaned and attempted to haul herself back to her feet, only to have her ankle give way under her weight. A mahogany-colored hand appeared in front of her face.

"Do you need any help?" asked a gentle, deep voice. Padma nodded slightly and gripped the large, warm hand, leaning heavily on the man as she pulled herself up. She barely looked at him for a second before she knew that she found her tour guide.

The wizard who she ran into was so tall, he dwarfed her despite the ridiculous heels she had donned. He wore a bright pinstriped suit along with a floppy top hat, dragonhide boots, and a cloak. No normal Muggle dressed that way. And only Wizards had such bad fashion sense. He looked mildly familiar, maybe a fellow Hogwarts graduate? There _had_ been a wizard of African descent in her sister's house.

Padma fixed her pencil skirt and tried to return her weight onto her left ankle only to have it buckle again. She groaned. "Just my luck…" she griped. "I don't think it's broken…"

The man gave her a calculating look for a moment before holding his arms out to her. "I can carry you if you need any help…"

"I'm not going to let a complete stranger carry me around," laughed Padma. "I'll manage." Noticing the wizard's hurt expression, she stopped. "What?"

"Parvati, don't you _recognize _me?" he implored. Definitely Hogwarts. Definitely Gryffindor.

"Mistaking me for my twin isn't very polite," she retorted, snickering at the baffled expression she wore. "I'm Padma, Parvati's twin. Although, I never thought we looked that alike…"

The wizard gave an embarrassed grin and scratched the back of his neck. "Dean Thomas," he said awkwardly. "Sorry for messing that up! Your sister was…"

"In Gryffindor with you," finished Padma. "I know, silly. Don't worry about mixing us up, I'll forgive you if you just mend my ankle."

"I can do that, and more," replied Dean, smiling. "I'll buy you lunch as well. Think of it as a… time to reacquaint. I haven't heard from Parvati lately, so…" he trailed off, expression hopeful.

Padma smiled, and grasped his arm again. "Shall we?" she asked.

XX

Dean had been working for the Ministry for the past four years. He had just been promoted to an ambassador and was in Spain on official business. Upon discovering that Padma was in the country on vacation, he was practically green with envy.

"I've been here for almost a _year_ and I haven't had time to go sightseeing!" he griped.

The two continued to eat in companionable silence before Padma furrowed her brow, thinking. Suddenly, she turned to Dean. "Isn't your mother a Muggle?" she asked.

"Yes, she's…" Noticing Padma's pointed look at his awkwardly matched clothes, he grinned and scratched the back of his neck again. "I… Would you believe me if I said I had no sense of style, Muggle or Wizarding?"

Padma almost choked on her food as she covered her mouth and burst into hysterical giggles. "Yes, I'd buy that," she managed in between snorts.

Dean looked mildly offended for a moment before he too laughed uproariously. Soon, all the patrons in the small diner were staring pointedly at them, the rambunctious Englishmen.

XX

Padma thought it was funny that every time she ran into Dean Thomas, she quite literally _ran into him_. The second time she saw him was purely coincidental. She was back in London, having finished her vacation. She was carrying a bundle of herbs she had just picked up from the apothecary and hurrying back to her tiny flat when she was, once again, knocked off her feet by a tall African wizard who went by the name 'Dean' who was back in the country for a family visit.

She laughed – loud, boisterous, obnoxious – so much so that the Muggles in the street began to give her strange looks.

Dean grinned and scratched the back of his neck, an indication that he was embarrassed as Padma came to know. He offered her a hand again and pulled her up. "I wish we could meet in a way that _didn't_ involve us almost killing each other," he said sheepishly.

Padma smirked. "I don't really mind. After all, when this happens you feel bad and take me out to eat." Her smirk turned decidedly Slytherin as she grabbed Dean's arm. "I'm feeling up for Italian food today. What say we grab a bite? Your treat?"

Dean rolled his eyes. "I don't think I'm allowed to say no," he joked. "Quite frankly, I think you're rewarding _me_ more than anything. You and your sister are the best looking girls in our Hogwarts class." He grinned roguishly, "I think I'm going to start plotting ways to run into you."

Padma just laughed, not realizing how serious he was.

XX

Dean's plot worked surprisingly well. He made it a point to sweep (knock/run-into/tackle) Padma off her feet every time he was in London and Padma was only too eager to be swept (knocked/ran into/tackled). The next few months resulted her sporting an abnormal number of sprained ankles until Dean gave up on the 'running into you' portion of the plan and simply skipped to the 'dinner or any other meal at all' portion of the plan.

XX

"Do you want to go spelunking with me?"

They were eating dinner at a Muggle pub in London when Dean had sprung the strangest question on her. Padma had been _certain_ that Dean was about to ask her on another date (not that she had told her parents she was going out with the half-blood African wizard because they, with their old fashioned pure-blood Indian ways, would _never_ understand) when he had baffled her with his question.

"Sorry?" Padma shot Dean a confused look. "What is… spell-lunching?"

Padma frowned as Dean burst into hysterical laughter. The wizard grinned when he calmed down, "Sorry, I forgot you didn't grow up with Muggles. It's 'spelunking'."

"Spe… lunking?"

Dean shrugged. "Close, _spelunking_. Muggles do it all the time. The explore caves."

"Explore caves?" ventured Padma hesitantly. "Really?"

Dean nodded enthusiastically, almost looking like a little boy. "Yeah," he said, practically bouncing in his chair. "It's really cool! Doing it the Muggle way is intense – they climb into the caves and explore everything… If it's an underwater cave, the swim, and it's usually very dark, and there are lots of fantastic animals down there. And the caves themselves are beautiful."

"Sounds a bit scary," began Padma. Upon seeing Dean's disappointed face, she was quick to finish. "It also sounds very interesting."

Dean grinned, his bright white teeth flashing. "Is that a yes?"

"It's a date."

XX

Padma was not disappointed. She was terrified, but certainly _not _disappointed.

One week after he asked her to go spelunking, she dressed in Muggle clothing and met Dean at the Leaky Cauldron where he pulled her into an embrace and apparated them away. She stumbled a bit, disoriented, when they appeared on a ledge outside some caves. Pulling out of the shadows, they joined a group of Muggles on the 'tour'.

Padma truly marveled at the courage of Gryffindors.

Dean insisted on climbing into the tiniest nook and cranny to 'get the best experience'. Padma, however, was perfectly content to travel the 'typical' way – not that there was anything _typical_ about rappelling down into a cave wearing a hard-hat (to her, at least). But not only was the trip exciting, it was also beautiful in the caves.

Dean said that these caves were in America, called the 'Luray Caverns'. Hand in hand, the two walked through fantastical formations of natural beauty – stalagmites and stalactites so long they met in the middle to form columns, beautiful arrangements of stalactites so delicate they looked ready to fall, stalagmites so tall they dwarfed even Dean, magical formations of rock that appeared as though water was cascading down the cave walls.

Padma turned to Dean, spellbound. "This is all natural?" she gasped, staring at him. Smiling, he nodded. "It's magical…" she whispered.

And it was magical. The two were standing very close together now. They were surrounded by beauty and magic and deep within the two, there was a different type of magic occurring, a magic that wrapped around their hearts and drew them closer and closer to each other until their lips met and suddenly they were snogging like sixth years in the middle of the most enchanting place on earth.

They suddenly pulled apart and tried to avoid looking each other in the eyes, suddenly feeling very awkward. At the same time, both of them seemed to groan.

"How am I going to tell my parents?"

Dean and Padma gasped as they spoke the same exact words at the same exact time. Hesitantly cracking smiles, they looked at each other.

"Well, I'd say that's a sign if I've ever seen one," ventured Dean.

With a smile, Padma stood up on her tippy-toes and gave Dean another kiss. "I don't care what my parents say," she whispered. "My sister likes you, and _I_ like you. That's what matters."

Dean grinned. "I agree." They were kissing again. Dean pulled away from Padma for a moment and smirked at her. "You know, I told you that you and your sister were the best-looking girls in our class. I have to correct my statement. You're the best looking girl _ever_. And now you're mine." Padma blushed so much that the color could be seen even on her caramel skin.

A few moments later, the couple noticed that they couldn't find the tour guide.

**XX**

I hope you like it (a bit random, but ^^'). Please review~!


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